Northeast Texas Community College was well represented at the recent meeting of the Texas Webb Society in San Marcos. Honors Northeast Scholars won two of the four freshman-sophomore division awards for scholarship.† Jazmin Garcia of Mount Pleasant placed third in the state, and won $150 for her essay on Texas First Lady, Mildred Moody.†Rhylie Anderson?s essay placed fourth.†She received $75 for her essay on the ?Politics of Futility,? a look at African-American leaders during the era after the Civil War.
Garcia?s and Anderson?s Caldwells marked the 18th and 19th occasions since 2008 that NTCC scholars have won an award for student scholarship at the state meeting. The Walter Prescott Webb Society is the collegiate auxiliary of the Texas State Historical Society, and is based in Austin.†The Caldwell Awards were established in 1974 in memory of Clifton Mott Caldwell, a prominent oilman, rancher, Baptist layman, and one-time Regent of the University of Texas from Abilene.
Honors Northeast students who attended included: Anderson, Garcia, Madison Blood, Alicia Cantrell, Matthew Chambers, Jordan Whelchel, and Warren Wu. They reported on leading works of scholarship in Texas history completed at NTCC in 2017.† Presidential Scholar, Wu, the 2017 Honors film producer, presented segments of†Smoldering Wick: The Story of Mary Kay†that earned NTCC the 2017 Chapter Award of the Webb Society for community colleges.† It was the second time that NTCC has won this award.† Wu?s completed film is now available at www.ntcc.edu/honorsfilms.
Alicia Cantrell?s presentation on the rise of the Intersectional Feminists--Ann Richards and Barbara Jordan--was yet another highlight of the San Marcos conference.† Cantrell received full billing on the THSA program as one of the two invited undergraduate speakers to address the meeting.† Cantrell?s address noted how both Richards and Jordan capitalized on surprising discrepancies in their personal narratives.† Unlike Hillary Clinton later, both Texas feminists bested powerful male antagonists.
?Garcia really capitalized on an amazing diary that NTCC librarian, Heather Shaw unearthed on Mildred Moody.† And I was so pleased that Jazmin showed such amazing perseverance on her essay, during Christmas break.† Rhylie Anderson, on the other hand, created a new topic out of the thin air, and brought to light a very poignant story about African-American perseverance.† Alicia Cantrell?s address was one of the two best public presentations I have ever heard any undergraduate make,? Dr. Andrew Yox, Honors Director, noted. ?Both of my colleagues, Dr. Melissa Fulgham and James MacGregor, helped polish this extraordinary presentation.† The exciting thing is, it matched the performances of many professional historians.††Finally, we were thrilled that all of our honors students worked together so assiduously, with support from our friends and the college, to bring home the 2017 Webb Chapter Award, now in the Honors Student Office.
To learn more about Honors Northeast, visit www.ntcc.edu/honors or contact Yox at 903-434-8229 or ayox@ntcc.edu.
